Chapter 218: Your Final Role

The Sword Demon’s swordsmanship was known to be savage and rough.

That reputation had come from the wounds left on the bodies of the villains he killed.

But Kim Muhyuk could never agree with that assessment.

“Master’s swordsmanship is quiet and still. So quiet that you can barely sense it before the sword moves. It’s almost like the method of a silent hunter...”

Yang Seonu looked at Kim with open contempt.

After all, no one in the world had mastered the Sword Demon Choi Geon’s martial arts more completely than he had.

“Are you a little slow at grasping the situation, junior? I don’t think you’re in any position to lecture me.”

Sssssss...

As Yang Seonu finally began releasing his full presence, his training clothes billowed and the thick stench of blood spread in every direction.

He was a supreme master who had concealed his martial arts for years.

Revealing his level would have brought him greater honor, but it was obvious that the Skybreaker Gate sect leader would have subjected him to relentless suppression.

That was why he had planned to wait until the sect leader died, prove his martial level, seize control of the sect in one stroke, and take the position for himself.

“And all those plans came to nothing because of you...”

Grinding his teeth, Yang glared at Kim with murder in his eyes.

Kim, however, continued talking to himself with an excited expression. His attitude made it clear that he was not paying Yang the slightest attention.

“My swordsmanship was heavily influenced by Master. I picked up some rough habits from spending so many years as a wandering fighter, but even then, I kept working to make the good parts my own.”

“...You truly are insane.”

Yang frowned at the absurd claim that a twenty-year-old young rising star had spent years roaming as a wanderer.

There were occasionally martial artists like that.

People so intoxicated by their own mental image that they came to believe their imagined selves were real.

Kim Muhyuk had to be one of those lunatics.

“Anyway, thanks to that, I survived more than a few times when I should’ve died in the gutter. Without Master, I probably wouldn’t have lived past thirty.”

“...”

Hearing such madness come from that youthful face sent another chill through Yang.

Even so, he was confident he could kill Kim whenever he pleased.

He was merely being cautious because Choi Geon’s presence troubled him.

The Sword Demon may be watching from somewhere nearby.

That was why Yang had been inflicting wounds little by little while keeping watch on his surroundings, but he had yet to sense the Sword Demon’s presence at all.

Does he truly intend not to interfere? In that case...

A cruel smile formed on Yang Seonu’s lips.

He raised his sword with a low snicker.

“How much longer am I supposed to listen to your nonsense, junior? I’m starting to tire of it.”

Kim, of course, was entirely unbothered.

There were things he could say freely because he did not regard his opponent as a person at all.

“But now I want to surpass Master and prove martial arts of my own. That’s a natural feeling for any martial artist. Still, I can’t exactly fight the master I respect to the death, can I? I’m not an ungrateful bastard like someone else.”

“I suppose I’ll cut out that flapping tongue first.”

The moment Kim felt Yang’s genuine killing intent, he beamed.

His eyes gleamed with madness.

“And then you appeared. A supreme master who learned every technique of the Sword Demon Choi Geon. How could I possibly resist?”

Madness.

That skin-crawling quality could be understood only by those who had witnessed it firsthand.

Unable to conceal his exhilaration, Kim raised his sword and pointed it at Yang.

“So, senior, please fight with everything you have, die without regrets, and make it worthwhile.”

“...I’m already looking forward to the expression Master will make when he comes running after hearing you scream.”

Having each said only what they wanted to say, the two martial artists assumed their opening stances as though by prior agreement.

Swoosh.

They took exactly the same stance, like mirror images of one another.

The only difference was the opposite expressions on their faces.

Thump!

Dust burst from the ground as they launched forward at the same instant.

It took only a heartbeat for them to invade each other’s range.

Their swords traced the same path as they swept past one another.

Slash!

A thin line appeared across each of their shoulders immediately afterward.

They had both aimed for the neck, and even their evasive movements had been identical.

Drip...

But blood ran only from Kim Muhyuk’s shoulder.

A satisfied smile formed on Yang’s lips as he turned around.

He had established a clear advantage.

“You said you would surpass the Sword Demon, yet that was the exact same technique I learned.”

“...Once.”

Kim did not answer.

He merely replayed the sensation of the previous exchange and moved into the next.

He turned at once and charged Yang again.

“Twice.”

Lowering his stance to the limit, he raced forward as though skimming across the ground.

The sword he had left hanging low suddenly surged upward, aiming for Yang’s jaw.

Whoosh!

“I know this technique too.”

Yang spoke with mocking amusement as he slammed Kim’s attack downward with his own sword.

“Three.”

Kim murmured the number and twisted his body, deflecting the counterattack.

His foot snapped upward like a whip and grazed Yang’s cheek.

A moment later, Yang’s sword swept past and opened a shallow cut along Kim’s thigh.

Slash—!

Blood scattered from the long wound.

As Kim landed, Yang lunged at him like a predator and asked,

“Was that four?”

“No. Five.”

Completely immersed in the fight, Kim read the approaching sword path.

He stopped breathing and slipped inside it.

“Seven.”

“Eight.”

Slash-slash-slash!

As time passed, a web of wounds steadily spread across Kim’s body.

Blood seeped out and dyed his clothes red, while the sharp pain made the corners of his mouth tremble.

Yet Kim continued fighting without concern, counting aloud all the while.

“Thirteen.”

“Twenty-two.”

“Thirty-five.”

He was barely avoiding vital wounds, but his body was becoming more blood-soaked by the moment.

A pinnacle expert and a supreme master.

Only a thin wall stood before Kim Muhyuk, but the difference between crossing it and failing to cross it was anything but small.

Kim charged Yang as though he did not understand that difference.

No—as though he intended to smash straight through it.

“...What have you been counting all this time?”

At last, Yang could no longer contain his curiosity.

He had first assumed Kim was counting the number of times their swords collided, but that did not seem to be the case.

They had exchanged far more moves than the numbers Kim spoke.

He smiles every time he counts. And whenever I use the same technique again, he blocks it more easily than before...

Even though Yang held an overwhelmingly one-sided advantage in the fight, he felt intensely uneasy, as though insects were crawling across his skin.

Kim answered with the expression of a child who had been given a new toy.

“The life-or-death fight with Master that I imagined in my head. I was counting every time your sword path matched his.”

“...”

A fight to the death against the supreme master he had wanted most desperately to face, yet could never confront in reality.

That was why every one of Yang Seonu’s movements in this real battle was a precious lesson and realization to Kim.

“But I think I’ve seen enough now.”

Kim wiped the blood from his cheek and grinned.

Then he charged Yang once more.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

He had not suddenly gained enough strength to overwhelm Yang.

But Yang could feel Kim’s swordsmanship—identical to his own at first—beginning to change little by little.

His swordsmanship... changed?

It was not the Sword Demon’s exclusive Shadow Night Sword.

The sword path coming at him was rougher, brighter, and more violently direct.

Yet the strengths of the Shadow Night Sword had been absorbed into it, and the more Kim swung, the more natural his sword path became.

“You bastard...!”

Cold sweat ran down Yang’s back.

With each passing moment, he felt as though his opponent were devouring his techniques one by one.

BOOM—!

Yang forced Kim back with a powerful swing and took a moment to steady his disordered breathing.

There was still not a single wound on his body.

The fight remained overwhelmingly in his favor.

He’s more troublesome than I expected, but I can still win.

Then why was he so uneasy?

Yang tried to convince himself it was merely the anxiety of not knowing when the Sword Demon might intervene.

I should push myself and kill him quickly.

But Yang Seonu was mistaken about one thing.

Kim Muhyuk did not respect him in the slightest as a martial artist.

He regarded him only as a sacrifice for reaching the realm of a supreme master.

“Let’s take a break.”

“...What?”

The moment Yang frowned at the absurd suggestion, Kim had already turned and begun running toward the coast.

“How dare you—!”

Yang belatedly gave furious chase, but there was not enough time to catch him.

The deserted island where they fought was not very large, and the Blue Wolves crew had pitched tents along the coast and were waiting there.

BOOM!

A spear Kim Bokja had created and hurled from afar with Pilcheon Style slammed into the ground in front of Yang’s feet.

“...!”

While Yang flinched and stopped in place, Kim reached the coast and began talking with the crew.

Shin Kangheon looked over Kim’s injuries from every angle.

“You lasted longer than I expected. At first, I thought you’d be back in under ten minutes.”

“It’s manageable.”

Kim answered calmly.

He took wound ointment from Han Jaechun and applied it to his body, then drank internal-injury medicine like water.

“...What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

Yang was dumbfounded by the sight.

His face contorted with fury as he glared at Choi Geon.

“Master!”

Choi Geon had already approached and now stood between him and Kim with his hands clasped behind his back.

“What is it? Shall I give you a sip of water as well?”

“...This is a fair life-or-death fight between martial artists. Did you not clearly say you would not interfere?”

Choi Geon slowly shook his head and corrected him.

“I said I would not personally enter the fight. I never said I would not help.”

“What kind of wordplay is that?”

Choi Geon smiled with satisfaction at Yang’s trembling rage.

“Seonu. You will become fertilizer. Nourishment for the future of the Korean martial world. What a worthwhile and useful thing that is.”

The gaze Choi Geon turned toward Kim, who was tending to his wounds, was extraordinarily warm.

But when he looked back at Yang, his eyes held nothing but coldness.

Not the slightest trace of affection remained.

“That is your final role and your only remaining use. So do your utmost to give Muhyuk as much experience as possible.”

“...Must you truly go this far?”

Choi Geon no longer treated Yang Seonu as a human being.

He looked at him with the eyes of a devil confronting one villain among countless others and answered,

“Chuckling. Do not worry. I will watch your final moments to the very end.”

“...”

“Senior. Kept you waiting, didn’t I?”

Kim Muhyuk had finished applying the medicine and fully recovered his internal energy.

He walked toward Yang.

“Come on. Let’s start again. There’s still plenty I want to learn in a real fight.”

Yang Seonu’s expression twisted horribly.

But there was nothing he could do except flee back into the forest.